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R E M ARKS 



Hon. JAS. A. GARFIELD, 



<>x^ omo. 



HOUSE OF IIEPUKSENTATIVES, 



j^f:rxx^ 14, 1 



IN MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



AVASHINGTON. L). C. 

in- 1) SOX TAVLOK, PllINTKK, 

180G. 

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II IT S E F W E P ?« E S E N T A T I V E S 

.»-<atiii'cTa>', A^iiinl 11, lsi<»<>. 



The Ildiisp mot at, twc-lvo o'clock m. 

Prayer lij- the Cliaplain, Rov. C. B. Boyntox. 

On motion of ]\Ir. Garfielh. tlic roadins' of the Journal of yesterday was 
flispensed with. 

j\Ir. Garfield said — 

Mr. Speaker, I desire to move that this House do now adjourn. And 
before the vote upon that motion is taken I desire to say a few words. 

This day, Mr. Speaker^ will be sadly memorable so long as this nation 
shall endure, which God grant may be " till the last syllable of recorded 
time," when the volume of human history shall be sealed up and delivered 
to the omnipotent Judge. 

In all future time, on the recurrence of this day, I doubt not that the 
citizens of this Republic will meet in solemn assembly to reflect on the 
life and character of Abraham Lincoln, and the awful, tragic event of 
April 14, 1865— an event unparalleled in the history of nations, certainly 
unparalleled in our own. It is eiiiihcntly proper that thi.-^ House 
should this day place upon its records a memorial of that event. 

The last five years have been marked by wonderful developments of 
individual character. Thousands of our people, before unknown to fame, 
have taken their places in history, crowned with immortal honors. In 



thousands of humble homos are dwollino; heroes and patriots whose names 
shall never die. 

But greatest among all these great developments were the character 
and fame of Abraham Lincoln, whose loss the nation still deplores. Ilis 
character is aptly de.seribed in the words of England's great laureate — 
written thirty years ago — in which he traces the upward steps of some — 

••Divinely gifted man. 
Whose life in low estate began, 
And on a sim[)le village green : 

'■ Who break.* hi.* liirth'.s invidions bar, 
And grasps the skirts of happy chance. 
And breasts the blows of circnmstanoe. 
And gnii)pk'S with liis evil star: 

■ Who makes by force his merit kno\\ ii. 
And lives to clutch the golden keys 
To mold a mighty State's decrees, 
And shape the whisper of the throne ; 

'• And moving up from high to higher, 
liecomes on Fortune's crowning .*lope. 
The pillar of a people's hope, 
The center of a world's desire.'' 

Such a life and character will be treasured forever as the sacred posses- 
sion of the American people and of mankind. 

In the great drama of the rebellion, there were two acts. The first 
was the war with its battles and sieges, victories and defeats, its sufFerings 
and tears. 

That act was closing one year ago to-night, and, just as the curtain 
was lifting on the second and final act — the restoration of peace and 
liberty — just as the curtain was rising upon new characters and new 
events, the evil spirit of the rebellion, in the fury of despair, nerved and 
directed the hand of an assassin to strike down the chief character in 
both. 

It was no one n)an who killed Abraham Lincoln ; it was the embodied 
spirit of treason and slavery, inspired with fearful and de.spairing hate, 
that struck him down, in the moment of the nation's supremest joy. 

Sir, there are times in the history of men and nations, when they 
stand so near the veil tiiat separates mortals from the immortals, time 



from etornity, and men from their God, that they can ahriost hear the 
beatings and feel the pulsations of the heart of the Infinite. 

Through such a time has this nation passed. When two hundred and 
fifty thousand brave spirits passed from the field of honor, through that 
thin veil, to the presence of God, and when at last its parting folds 
admitted the martyr President to the company of these dead heroes of the 
liepublic, the nation stood so near the veil, that the whispers of God 
were heard by the children of men. 

Awe-stricken by His voice, the American people knelt in tearful 
reverence and made a solemn covenant with Him and with each other, 
that this nation should be saved from its enemies, that all its glories 
should be restored, and, on the ruins of slavery and treason, the temples 
of freedom and justice should be built and should survive forever. 

It renuxins for us, consecrated by that great event, and under a 
covenant with God, to keep that iaitli, to go forward in the great work 
until it shall be completed. 

Following the lead of that great man, and obeying the high behests 
of God, let us remember that — 

" He liaci sounded I'oitl, ;i tiuniin't thut shall uever call retreat; 
He is sit'tiiisi' out the hearts of men l)efore His judgment seat: 
Be swift my soul to answer Him, he juhilant my feet : 
For God is marching on. " 

I move, sir, that this House do now adjourn. 

The motion was luiaiiimously agreed to; and thereupon (at lifteen minutes 
alter twelve o'clock) the House adjourned. 



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